Does it matter who Likes you?

Yes it does, according to retailers that have integrated Facebook’s Like button onto their sites.

In preparation for a presentation I’m making next week, I’ve been talking to a number of retailers who have integrated Facebook’s Like button onto their sites. Nearly every retailer tells the same story—the integration is relatively simple (although almost all include the caveat that it is not as easy as Facebook claims) and it has boosted traffic—and often sales—on their sites.

Take, for instance, outdoor gear and apparel retailer Giant Nerd, which placed the Like button on all its product pages. The result? Traffic coming from Facebook grew 100%. Moreover, the number of those consumers who placed an order jumped 30% and the average order value rose 50%.

Similarly, children’s clothing site Tea Collection added the Like button to individual dresses as a promotional tool. The dress with the most Likes at the end of the day is then offered at a discounted price the following day. Within 12 hours of launching the campaign the site recorded more than 3,000 Likes and site visits rose 300% above average.

Since adding the Facebook Like button or other of the social network’s plug-ins to a site is free, other than the time it takes to add the necessary line of code to product pages, it may not make sense to stand on the sidelines any longer.